Pebble Beach: Hole-by-hole

BBC News Online takes a hole-by-hole look at the 6,846-yard, par-71 new-look Pebble Beach course, ahead of this year's Open.

Hole 1
Par 4, 381 yards
The key on this short opening hole is to keep the ball in the fairway. So, many players will hit irons off the tee to avoid the rough on this sharp dogleg-right hole.

Hole 2
Par 4, 484 yards
This may be the most controversial hole of the championship. Normally a par-5, it has been converted into a brutal par-4 that will require a very long approach shot to a narrow green flanked by bunkers.

Hole 3
Par 4, 390 yards
This dogleg left requires a draw off the tee and a high fade into the green, which slopes downward from right to left.

Hole 4
Par 4, 331 yards
The first of nine holes that sit directly above the Pacific shores, this short hole has a sprawling fairway bunker on the left awaiting tee shots directed away from the ocean on the right.

Hole 5
Par 3, 188 yards
This new hole, designed by Jack Nicklaus, plays along the ocean and is often buffeted by swirling winds that make club and shot decisions very tricky. The small green is guarded by a bunker in front and a deceptive landing area to the left that looks safe but will send balls careening into the rough.

Hole 6
Par 5, 524 yards
This par-5 runs uphill along the right side of a high peninsula that juts out into the Pacific, and usually plays against the wind. The tiny, hilltop green is protected by bunkers on both sides.

Hole 7
Par 3, 106 yards
This is the shortest hole in championship golf - and one of the most treacherous. From the elevated tee the green looks like it is surrounded by ocean, with waves breaking on rocks to the right and back. But the ocean winds makes this hole. In the 1992 Open Tome Kite, the eventual winner, hit a sand wedge here on Saturday and a 6-iron on Sunday.

Hole 8
Par 4, 418 yards
The first of three extremely difficult par-4s along the water, this is one of the most demanding holes at Pebble Beach. It starts with a blind, uphill tee shot to a narrow fairway that ends about 220 yards from the tee - at a cliff overlooking the beach. From there a middle iron shot is needed to carry over the rocky beach and onto a green perched atop another cliff.

Hole 9
Par 4, 466 yards
This long hole runs parallel to the shore and its fairway slopes toward the ocean, leaving the ball below the player's feet and making the long approach shot even tougher. The green is protected by a deep bunker on the left and a sheer drop down to the beach on the right.

Hole 10
Par 4, 446 yards
Another hole along the beach, another fairway sloping toward the ocean, another green perched perilously close to a high cliff. In the '72 Open Jack Nicklaus hit his drive onto the beach here, then missed the green and made double bogey, but he still won the championship.

Hole 11
Par 4, 380 yards
This short hole - with the prevailing ocean wind helping - is deceptively difficult. It requires a blind tee shot to a very narrow fairway and a partially blind approach to a green that slopes severely from back to front.

Hole 12
Par 3, 202 yards
This long par-3 has the firmest green on the course and any tee shot landing on the back half will end up in thick rough behind the green.

Hole 13
Par 4, 406 yards
Even though fairway bunkers have been added here, this straight hole may be the last best chance for birdie. While the sloping green is one of the slickest on the course, with a "bailout" area to the rear it can be attacked.

Hole 14
Par 5, 573 yards
The rough on the left side of the fairway has been grown in on this right dogleg, meaning it will be easy to drive through the fairway and into the deep grass. With the green elevated and hard to hold, very few players will go for it in two shots, opting instead for a short approach.

Hole 15
Par 4, 397 yards
The fairway here has been narrowed considerably, which should induce most players to hit an iron or fairway wood off the tee. Still, that will leave a relatively short approach to the well-guarded green.

Hole 16
Par 4, 403 yards
This sharp dogleg right will have most players driving with an iron to a plateau in the fairway. That will offer the best approach to the green, which is framed by big Cypress trees left and right and fronted by wide bunker.

Hole 17
Par 3, 208 yards
This par-3, which plays against the ocean wind and into the setting sun, was the key hole in the first two Opens here. In 1972 Nicklaus hit the flagstick with his tee shot and had a tap-in birdie that clinched the championship. In 1982 Tom Watson chipped in for birdie from deep rough to assure his victory, over Nicklaus.

Hole 18
Par 5, 543 yards
This picturesque hole, which curls left along the Pacific coastline, starts with a drive over the rocky shore to a hard, narrow fairway punctuated by two Cypress trees in the landing area. While some long hitters may go for it in two shots, most will lay up for a more accurate approach to the green, which is guarded on the right side by another big Cypress tree, and on the left by waves crashing on rocks.